Bottle vending machine



March 13, 1945. c. v. RICE ET Al.

BOTTLE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS, r/T K 719/66, B i Za/7 W ///'ef//la/z ATTORNEY.

Filed July 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M, Y. E O 9. 4 1Q w .i WZ 4 M .4 w W M w w l 4 wx/J A waz M E M 9;, a 0 a@ 6 a March 13, 1945. Q v MCE EAL 2,371,316

BOTTLE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 13, 1945 2,371,316' BOTTLE VENDING MACHINE Cari v. Rice and Don M. Kitterman, Kansas Kans.

y Application July 5, 1941, Serial No. 401,088

1 Claim.

' This invention relates to certain new and useiui improvements in bottle vending machines.

The primary object oi the invention is the provision or a bottle vending ,machine wherein the bottles are disposed in closely related position on vertically spaced apart supports, and intermittently moved by means of a Geneva drive to be successively delivered from said machine.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a coin controlled dispensing refrigerator which will contain a maximum number of bottles, can be operated by a relatively small Power unit, and is economically and sturdily built.

Further objects of the invention include the specific structural elements, the combination and novel manner of operation, all of which will appear during the course of the speciilcation referring' to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bottle vendin machine embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the vending machine with parts broken away.

Fig. 3 is a detached planar view of the bottle carrying platforms partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line IV--IV of Fig. l, with the back parts slightly oii'set.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line IV-IV of F18. 4.

Fig. 6 is fragmentary plan view of the bottom portions showing the automatic switch for cutting H the electric current to the driving motor when the last bottle is delivered from the machine.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line VII-V11 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line vIII--V'III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view showing the trap door securing device.

Fig. 10 is a section view taken on line X-X of Fig. 9.

Fig. 1l is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuit.

Fig. l2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the drive.

Fig. 13 is a reduced pian view of partition .'i2.

Throughout the several views like references refer to similar parts and the numeral I0 designates an outer casing which might be made of various forms, and is shown as rectangular in cross section with slightly rounded corners. An inner casing i2 is spaced apart from the outer casing Il to form a pocket therebetween to receive a heat insulating material I4. A transversely disposed partition I6 forms a. bottom for (Cl. 31E-97.1)

the refrigerating compartment i8 which is open at 2l and provided with a cover 22 hinged at 24 adjacent its center line. A lower compartment 26 positioned below the refrigerating compartment is adapted to receive a mechanical refrigerating unit not shown from which a refrigerant is fed to the cooling coils 28 which are positioned in the refrigerating compartment, however the particular type of refrigeration employed is not material to the novel means of controlling and delivering the bottles. A suitable base 30 is provided to support the body of the machine.

The bottle carrying mechanism 3| comprises a substantially rectangular frame 32 having spider base member 34 vertically disposed angled corner members 36 and a top plate 38. The side por-` tions intermediate the corner members are open to admit free access of the cooling air from the coils. Located between the cover 22 and top 38 is a chamber 40 which serves as a. pre-cooling chamber for a number of bottles which may be set upright or otherwise positioned therein.

Horizontally disposed partitions 42, 44, 46, 48, B0, 52 and 54 carried by frame 32 are spaced apart a suiiicient distance to receive a beverage bottle B for free movement therebetween. Each of said partitions is provided with a central circular opening 56, and these openings are axially disposed to receive a rotatable bottle propelling mechanism 58. A cushion pad 60 is provided on each of said partitions to support the bottles from the metal partitions and to prevent the production of too much noise as the bottles are moved during lling and dispensing operations. Fur- Vthermore, this cushion also prevents excessive wear of the bottles.

The bottle propelling mechanism 58 comprises a sectional drum member 62 formed of inter-engaging ring hub members 64 secured together by o the vertically disposed tiebolts 66 with nuts 68. 'I'hese ring members 64 are each annularly offset at 10 to receive the edge portion of the adjacent horizontal partition about its central opening 56.

'I'he bottom end of the drum member is provided with a spider bracket 'i2 having a depending, axially disposed axle 'i4 which is mounted in bearing 'I6 carried by vertically disposed bracket 8|. Top bearing bracketl 80 which receives the trunnion 82 carried by the top plate 33 5o is in axial alignment with axle 14. Hub rings 64 have substantially radially disposed arms or spokes 84 which are spaced apart the proper distance to encompass beverage bottles as shown in Fig. 5, so that as the hubs and associated arms M are rotated the beverage lled bottles will be rolled through the arc of a circle and delivered,

one at `a time, to the opening 88 formed through each of the horizontal partition plates.

disposed grooves 88 extending inwardly from the outer edge thereof to receive the downwardly projecting lugs 88 of rotary driving member 82. This rotary driving member 92 is centrally mounted on a shaft 84 mounted in frame bearing 86 and having at its upper extremity a spur gear 88 which intermeshes with pinion |88 xed on shaft |82 will be secured in the closed position, as hereinafter described. Since the bottle propelling t mechanism is rotated in but one direction it is mounted for rotation in frame bearing 88. 'Shaft V |82 also has a rigidly attached worm gear |84 which is directly driven by motor |88 through worm |88. 'I'his Geneva movement drive is so timed and controlled tha't it will cause the bottle propelling mechanism to move all the bottles forward through an arc equal te one bottle space and then stop with the lugs 98 in position to secure the bottle propelling mechanism against accidental movement.

. ,Referring to Fig. 5, it will ,be noted that as the lugs 88 are rotated in the'direetion indicated by the arrow themovement of the bottle propelling means 58 will at tlrst be very slow due to the relative angles of movements of the members, will accelerate and then slow down until it comes to a definite stop in the securing positionA shown in Fig. 5. -When thus moved the bottles will not tend to over-ride due to-their momentum, also the power required to start the movement will be at a minimum due to the'great advantage of the small starting movement. When the Geneva is at rest the bottle driving mechanism cannot be moved from its secured position thereby eliminating the possibility of obtaining more than one bottle at each operation of the machine.

The openings 88 formed in the various horizontal partitions are so arranged that the openings in alternate partitions are in vertical alignment and the openings in adjacent partitions are spaced apart in such a manner that two series of openings are formed at opposite sides of the center delivery opening ||8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. These openings 88 are disposed radially and are adapted to be inalignment with the bottles in the bottle propelling mechanism 58 wen said driving member is at rest, as described a ve.

During the filling operation, the filled `bottles arev deposited through the opening ||2 in the top 88 as the bottle propelling mechanism is operated so that the bottles will be delivered step by step to the bottom partition 54. The double hinged closure I3 serves to normally close opening ||2. After 54 has been completely filled, no more bottles can be delivered thereto so that the bottles in the compartment next thereabove vwill roll over the opening in partition 52 by contacting the nlled bottle therebelow. This same operation will proceed upwardly until all compartments are filled.

During the illling operation the trap door ||4 bottom side of the partition thereabove.

during the filling operation the operator might evident that with the delivery openings 88 oilset as described, the various compartments will first be partially filled and then beginning at the bottom each compartment will be successively illled to completely fill the container. The exactI construction of the radial arms 84 forming the bottle engaging means is not material except that they should be so constructed as to maintain the layer of bottles in as closely related relation as possible to enhance the capacity of the machine.

It will be noted that when .the bottles are properly positioned on the various transverse partitions they will extend substantially to the Since notproperly position the bottle, between arms 84,'provision is made to automatically cut of! the current to the driving motor |88 so as to stop the movement of the bottle propelling mechanism 58 until said bottle has been correctly positioned. This current breaking' means comprises an arm ||8 pivoted intermediate its ends at ||8 to the top plate 88. This arm is pivoted `for horizontal movement and is normally held in contact relation with a stationary contact point |28 by means oi' a spring |22. The outer end of arm ||8 is positioned so as to be spaced slightly above the properly positioned bottles in the upper compartment so that when a bottle is positioned slightly above said correct position during the lling operation, it will strike arm ||8 and move contact point |24 carried by the inner end oi' arm ||8, away from contact point |28, thereby breaking the circuit and'stopping the electric motor |88. This mechanism will avoid breaking of the driving mechanism during the filling operation.

During the nlling operation, the trap door ||4, is always secured in the closed position bythe following mechanism, best shown in Figures 4, 9 and 18. A bell crank lever |28 pivoted l'at |21 to base member 84 is pivotally connected by one of its arms by pivot |28 to a vertically disposed bar |28 which extends upwardly to normally extend above the bottom of cover 22. The upper end oi'l bar |28 extends through a stationary bracket |88 and is provided at its upper end with a push button |82. A compression spring |88 encompasses bar |28 and is positioned between button |82 and bracket |88 and is of suicient strength to operate the securing bar |84 which is pivoted at point |85 to one arm of the bell crank lever |28 and is supported at its other end by a slotted plate |88. When the cover 22 is in the closed position, as shown in All'ig. 4, spring |88 will be compressed and the bell crank lever moved to the position shown in solid lines shown in Fig. 9 to hold the securing bar |84 from beneath the trap door ||4, however when cover 22 is raised the spring will force bar |28 upwardly and force the securing bar |84 to a positionl beneath the trap door ||4.

'I'he trap door ||4 is pivoted to base member 34 at |88 and is provided with aicounter bar weight |48 which normally maintains the trap door in the closed position, however when a lled bottle is rolled thereon said trap door will tilt to the position, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, to deliver the bottle B through the delivery chute |42 where it can be easily reached by the operator. This chute terminates in an angled bracket |44 which prevents the bottle from accidentally dropping from the chute.

When the last bottle has been delivered from the machine a suitable means is provided whereby the current to the electric motor will be cut off. This switch mechanism is best shown in Figs. 6 andv 7, wherein an elongated bar |46 pivoted intermediate its ends at |48, is positioned in a slot |50 formed in the bottom partition 54 adjacent the delivery opening so that the bottles being moved tosaid delivery opening will rest thereon to prevent tilting of the pivoted bar |46. That portion of the bar |46 removed from opening ||0 in provided at its under side with a mercury switch |52 which is closed when the bar is in the horizontal position, as shown. When -open themercury switch.

A cap removing device |54 is secured adjacent the upper portion of the bottle vending dropping of coin C, as described above and the armature is` operated, an electric current will pass from feedA wire |64 to wire |66, wire 2|0, points |96, |94, wire 206 to one pole of the motor |06, thence by wiresl 208 and |14 through closed mercury switch |16 and wire |18 to the other feed wire |60 thereby operating the Geneva drive and causing the bottles within the container to move forwardly one step.

'I'his movement will cause the delivery oi bottles through openings 86 to the partition nextv therebelow and will always deliver-,a bottle to the trap door I4 for delivery through the chute |42.

As long. as electromagnetic coil |12 is energized the armature .|82 will be held in the inactive position. The coil |12 is de-energized at the delivery of each bottle since as the delivery machine and above a cap receiving compartment |56 which is positioned therebelow. A coin control switch mechanism |58 having al coin slot |80 is'positioned conveniently on the f ront face of the cabinet.

A mercury switch |16 is rigidly secured to the underside of trap door ||4 to rock therewith as the trap door is tilted during the bottle delivery operation. When the trap door is in thev horizontal closed position the mercury switch is closed and when the door is tilted as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 the switch is open.

A diagrammatic showing of the salient parts of the coin control mechanism |58 will-be shown and described in the diagrammatic view of the electric circuit, shown in Fig. ll. The coin C is adapted to fall on switch lever |51 which is normally held in the open position by means of spring |59. The Weight of the coin will cause paints |60 and |62 to contact thereby connecting the feed line |64 through wires |66 and |68, switch lever |51 and wire |10 with electromagnetic coll |12 thence by wire |14, mercury switch |18, wire |18 to the other power feed line |80.

An armature|82 pivoted at |84 to bracket `|06 is thereby operated against the action of spring |88 to permit the flexing of spring bars |90 and |82 of the multiple switch |93. When so operated, point |94 contacts point |96 and point |98 contacts point 200. A contact point 202 normally contacts point 204, however when the electromagnet |12 is energized these points 202 and 204 are opened.

Wire 206 connects point |94 to one pole of the motor |06 while the other pole of the motor is connected by wire 208 to wire |14. Wire 2|0 connected with point |96 connects with one of the contacts of loading switch 2|2, the other contact of which is connected by wire 2|4 to wire |10. Point 200 is connected by wire 2|6 to wire 2|4. Switch point |24 is connected by wire 2| 8 to wire 2|0 and point |20 of said switch is connected by -wire 220 to points 202 and |90. Wire |66 from the feed wire |64 also connects with the wire 2|0 intermediate point |96 and wire 2|8. Point 204 connects withthekick-out solenoid 222 through wire 224. The other pole of solenoid 222 is connected with one pole of the mercury switch |52 by' wire 226 and the other point of the mercury switch is connected by wire 228 to Wire |14.

When magnetic coil |12 is energized by the trap door ||4 moves downwardly mercury switch |16 will open thereby definitely cutting ofi one of the feed lines of the circuit.

As soon as switch |16 is opened, armature .|82 will return to its normal position and the motor cannotbe started until another coin is delivered to the machine.

When the last bottle has been delivered from the carrier, bottle B, shown diagrammatically in Fig. 11, will move from the tilting member |46 and permit it to open mercury switch |52.

'Ihe opening of mercury switch |52 will deenergize the kick-out solenoid 222 so that the coin C will be delivered back to the customer, by standard means not shown.

When it is desired to load the machine, the operator closes switch 2|2 so that current from feed wire |64 passes through wire |68, wire 2|0, switch 2|2, wire 2M, wire |10, through electromagnet |12, wire |14, closed mercury switch |16 and wire |18, to feed wire |80. This 4will energize electromagnetic coil |12 operating armature |82 and supplying current to the electric motor 06 in the manner described above.

After the motor |06 starts, switch 2|2 is opened but the circuit from 2|8, |24, |20, |98, 2|I6, 2|4, |10 to solenoid |12 remains closed and when the bottle compartments are filled contact points |20 and |24 are opened to de-energize electromagnet |12 thereby causing the multiple switch |93 to opserate to cut olf the current to driving motor Since the trap door securing device automatically works to lock said trap door ||4 in the closed position, when the cover 22 is raised it is apparent that during the filling operation lno bottles can be delivered from the machine.

By making slight changes in the structure and without departing from the spirit of the invention the bottle propelling mechanism might be driven from a Geneva power unit positioned in the lower compartment 26 thereby providing more room for the storing of bottles in chamber 40. l

It will be noted that the hub rings 64 form a tubular passageway extending entirely through the series of bottle supporting partitions whereby air will circulate therethrough to maintain a more even temperature throughout the box and eliminate much of the usual condensation.

Having thus described the invention what we claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a. bottle vending machine of the character described, a case having a discharge opening and an open top, a closure for said open top, a series of apertured, vertically spaced partitions adapted to carry a series of reclining bottles between adjacent partitions, rotatably mounted bottle driving mechanism operable tc simultaneously move all ot said bottles and suf. v:essively deliver said bottles to said discharge |`aprening. means operable by the bottle moving from the lower partition to said discharge opening te make inoperable said bottle driving mechanism, a

hinged closure for the aperture in the lower par; tition, and means operable as the closure for said open top is moved from the closed position to secure said hinged closure in the closed position to prevent the movement of bottles to said discharge opening.

CARL V. RICE. DON M. KI'I'I'ERMAN. 

